July 10, 2016

Well  what do you do when you hit the big city of Saskatoon but wash the bike, get your hair done, check out the quilt stores, visit family and with supervision install a new dishwasher and paint a kitchen. Wonderful food on the deck when the weather would allow and much conversation and a little bit of playing tourist with tour guides and all.

The Zhongshun Ting Committee erected a pagoda    locally called "The Ting" in Victoria Park as a testament to the original Chinese settlers in the area. Beautifully done by craftsmen from China.

Looking straight up.......Lying on the floor.

Two Lovers enjoying the sights.

Another new feature in Saskatoon which occurred on April 20, 2016 is the riverbank slough on Saskatchewan Cresent. 

More than half the street is missing in front of this home! Gayle, Lynn and Bob check it out up close.

I managed to use the hammock in the back yard to assist Olivia and Maeve to "time travel" to the dinosaurs. Did you know that swinging in a hammock really fast causes this phenomenon to occur? Well if you're young girls with an imagination anything is possible!

Remember those wonderful days girls and boys?

Looks like Grandma found some fresh berries.

Olivia

Maeve

Carol (Lynn's sister) and Gayle enjoying an outside supper. Notice the sunshine.

Then before we knew it it was time to move on west, as it would be now later in July for Bob's surgery. Simply by taking Hwy 7 in Saskatchehwan which turns into Hwy 9 in Alberta and turning north on Hwy 21 you find yourself  in Three Hills at the Best Western. Arrived on July 8th after a slightly undulating flat contry ride under cloudy skies. The  yellow of the canola fields in bloom is a welcome senses break from just green fields beside the highway. Many of the ditches are filled with water now because of all the recent rain we have been getting here in the west.

We checked out of the motel  and moved into the Shaw's Reno house for the remainder of our Three Hills stay on Saturday July 9th. We spent the day catching up on the last three years apart and Ron and I removed the famous "hanging bed" in the guest room and put up a family heirloom bed to begin the transformation of the new version of the "Guest Room"

.

Look at that folks we are already taking over! Helmets, electronic devices plugged in and storage bags from the bike everywhere. Talk about feeling at home.

Sunday July 10 was a day of rest and relaxation for the Shaws and the Days. I hope it was for you as well.

July 3, 2016

I am trying to keep these posts in order and have definitely come to the realization that daily updates are not going to happen at this point; so here goes my attempt at a weekly one.     

So where to go after Peoria, IL well.......lets see if we can make it to Waterloo, IA. A simple day of taking Hwy. 116 to 34 all the way over to Burlington, IA then taking 218 north to Waterloo. 7.5 hours and 432.5km later we checked into the Comfort Inn. A grocery store supper of salads, yogurt and frozen yogurt treats. Checking the odometer on the bike at layup for the night showed 49,999km. I guess it won't be difficult now to hit 50,000km tomorrow.👍

Biker chick in the corn fields and it's not finished growing.

The Great River Bridge over the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa

A break from the heat of the day beside the Mississippi in Burlington, Iowa June 27 

Leaving town and continuing our travel north towards even more FLAT country, we put in 528km riding under cloudy skies. Made the effort to ride through just a tad of  Minnesota, Iowa 20 to 59 then 60 to Worthington MN, then blasting west on Interstate 90 to Cedar Falls, South Dakota. While checking in to the Sleep Inn a retired gentleman from Bakersfield CA asked if I was staying the night.

The question caught me off guard so I asked him why. He quickly told me that he had been staying there for several days now and informed me that a women staying at this establishment had her Harley stolen just the night before.(June 27).......... What to do? Well we were on the ground floor ( always my preference while on the bike) so I parked on the lawn and slept with the window open. (I could reach out and touch the bike) It rained through the night so we were cautious about leaving In the morning.

June 29th saw us riding under threatening skies. We rode north on the town bypass to find Hwy 34 and rode west to Hwy 281 before turning right (north again) and pushed on to Jamestown, North Dakota. We did get rained on today, but just for a few minutes while passing Millarton. Someone must be looking out for us! We allowed the Hampton Inn to put us up for the night and went for a walk to pick up a light supper. While cleaning the winshield I struck up a conversation with a safety officer (from Houston, TX) working near by on a wind farm project. The bike does attract conversation. He was telling me that the night before (June 28th) the LED  light bar off the ceiling of his truck was stollen while sitting in the motel parking lot. I went inside and inquired as to where the best view from the front desk and best camera view of front entrance canopy was. I parked it right there, as our room was on the second floor in the back. What is it with people taking what is not their's? In case some may be wondering, I purchased gas today in Coleman, SD @ $ 2.799/USgal that is getting up there. The ride today was 510.7km

So here it is Thurs. June 30 and the target stop for the day was CANADA......Estevan, SK in particular.

Passports in hand we pulled up to Portal and all I did was flip up the chin bar on the new Shoei modular but Gayle had to remove her full face helmet and expose her helmet hair with out the opportunity of floofing in first or checking with a mirror! Welcome back to Canada😎

We did make it into Estevan but after riding through town checking on places to stay thought it felt like a loud oil boom town like Fort St John BC back in the day, so we pressed on for another 50 minutes to find a quiet room at the Canalta Inn in Weyburn, SK. Again while hand washing the bike before putting it up for the day, an older couple (70 each) from Dallas, TX came out of the room next to us and inquired about the bike. Turns out she  was born up the peninsula near L'anse aux Meadows and was a chemist in her working years and he was a civil engineer (from Texas) They ride a Honda Goldwing Trike now, as knee replacements and other health issues took them off two wheels. On this trip for a grand daughters highschool grad, they chose the Ford half ton! Travel distance today was 576.5km .....last US gas purchase for awhile in Portal, ND @ $2.499/USgal.

Canada Day 2016 saw us ride 380km under a thunderstorm watch to Saskatoon. We managed to stay dry all day and had lively catchup conversations with Gayle's brother Bob and our sister in law Lynn. The evening was delightfully put into high gear after the arrival of their daughter Jennifer's 4.5 year old Olivia and 1.5 year old Maeve. What wonderful lively girls they are. Jay, Jennifer's husband, is every bit as good with new to us Maeve as I remember him being with Olivia, when we were here three years ago. Does not take long to feel at home whenever we stay with the LeMesuriers. 

June 26, 2016 now in Peoria, IL

Well we left the comforts of Bellows Falls and headed south to Brattleboro on Hwy 5 then west on 9 on Tues. June 21 and rode 307km that day to Auburn NY. We both enjoyed the ride through Wilmington to Bennington VT and we actually resisted the desire to stop at the quilt store in Wilmington. 😀 We took a short break on Hogback Mountain on Hwy 9 before charging on to NY.

 Our plan is to use the Interstate Highways or Trans Canada Highways sparingly on this ride, so we stopped at MAX BMW in Troy NY (near Albany) to ask their staff for suggestions through through their fine state. Did not want to take the time to look for an AAA location or tourist bureau!

As I approached the door I said hello and stuck up a conversation with Nick. He is from Sante Fe NM and was on a solo ride and had worn out his front tire (Metzsler Tourance) on the twisties in the Virginias on his 2005 BMW R1200GS He phad found the MAX  dealership in Brookfield, CT not all that accommodating to through riding customers, so came up to Troy from Connecticut as he was heading home via a loop through Canada. Enjoyed exchanging route info and past riding experiences before saddling up after also chatting up the friendly counter staff inside. 

Rode on to lunch at the Tally Ho Restauant in Richfield NY and enjoyed a relaxing ride through rolling farm lands to check in to the Inn on the Finger Lakes in Auburn, NY.

The next day, Wednesday was a continuation of good riding weather and roads as we dipped down into the north western corner of Pennsylvania, wondering whether we would see some Amish farms and perhaps some horse and buggies on the roads. Beautiful country and farmland with only one buggy spotted (and he got off the road and down a driveway before I could stop to attempt a photo op!)

We rode on to Warren, PA the target stop for the day, but found the smell of the United Oil refinery rather over bearing in town, so headed north to check into the Best Western in Jamestown NY, just an hour north. Total distance of 489km on the ride today. Decided on a days lay over, so we were able to simply change rooms because of booking issues and relax all day. Not being familiar with the area and always having an eye on the weather means I'm finding it takes a lot of ride planning to stay off "the main drag" and try to miss the possiblity of poor weather.

The next day was a lot of stop and go along Hwy 20 and skirting Cleveland to wind up in Mansfield, OH at a Super 8 for the night. There were many estate like acreages in the areas south of Cleveland but no good place to pull over on the narrow back roads to take pictures. So you will have to take our word for it until you come this way yourself. We rode 416km today. It was muggy with a high of 28C.

June 25th saw us make it from Mansfield, OH to Huntington, IN a total of 307km in a timeline of 7 hours. The highlight of the day was the late lunch stop we made in Decatur, IN at Back 40 Junction Restauant. It is the home of the largest all you can eat buffet that either of us have ever experienced in our lifetime. From the appetizers to veggies and salads, breads and main course choices to the desserts it was real home cooking quality. Friendly efficient staff made our stop very rewarding. 

Getting back on the bike instead of finding a place to nap was a chore! Off the road today at the Comfort Inn by 3:30pm because of the 29C temperature.

Sunday June 26th saw us in the saddle by 8:30am and riding 364km to Peoria, IL and bunking down early.(with a time zone change somewhere along the way) The temperature was as high as 30C this afternoon. We checked into the Best Western Plus to have a swim, do laundry and answer some e-mails before doing the evening research for the next day. Aren't i-pads wonderful devices?

June 20' 2016

We got up and walked to breakfast at the Blueberry Muffin restaurant on the main drag North Conway NH and just guess who had to include one with their eggs and ham breakfast special?

We packed the bike and rode over to Whitehorse Gear for a look around. The selection of mesh gear disappointed. Enjoyed a conversation with four riding buddies from Presque Isle, Maine. One guy approached me by saying "tell me you don't like riding that Beemer" He knew quite a bit about the bike and was sure that I enjoyed riding it as he did his older Honda Gold Wing. When I told him we were on our way to the west coast and riding to California 2 up he said he only dreamed of doing that. I asked him how old he was and when he responded "62" ( just retired a year ago from farming) I told him I was 68 .... So don't stop dreaming! He said his wife would never take that ride. I know how lucky I am to have a "biker chick" who will spend hours a day riding with me wherever!😍

We took Hwy 112 "The Kanc" (local nickname) for the Kancamagus Hwy through the White Mountains National forest to Lincoln, we took 118 all the way to Hwy 4 and moved over to 12 at Lebanon and followed it to Bellows Falls, VT our destination for the day. Short days in the saddle can be a treat with the twisties and hills that this route provided. However, human threats are never far away! A young guy in a SUV decided to pull a left turn into a driveway from the open road near Cannan just as we approached. If it were not for the excellent brakes on the BMW his passenger and Gayle and I would have been in the hospital at best! As many times that the human threats rear their ugly heads I continue to be surprised. Look Twice Save A Life !!

It is always good to spend time with Nicholas and Jessica catching up on their lives and enjoying Jessica's great food offerings

No pictures today because we just wanted to ride and all the pull overs in the National Forest were filled with tourists and bikers.

While in Bellows Falls I took the time to make a protective grill for the oil cooler on the K1600GTL  using the ideas mentioned on a BMW forum. Nicholas had pre-purchased a galvanized mesh (normally used as eaves trough cover) and plastic coat spray come Lowes for me. I made a cardboard template first then fabbed the grille and coated the rough edges with plastic.

We were treated to Bellows Falls version of Southern Vermont Idol by Rick and Karen Holloway and cheered on their "entertainer" son Ezra as he took to the stage.

I got a new SIM card for my phone that would assist us with a data plan and cheaper phone calls within the USA. The first time ever that we have had a US phone number!

Nicholas and I traded bikes for the ride to Keene NH and I once again I got to follow his lead on the back roads home. What a great Father's Day treat! We actually repeated one section of twisties because a farmer with a load of hay slowed us down on the first pass through.😀

To finish off that day we were treated to supper at DUO's restaurant in Brattleboro, VT.

July 20th was a slow day of completing the oil rad grille and installing it on the bike and cleaning the bike ready for departure the next day.

2016 and on the road again

L

Can you remember where all this stuff goes? Just put it somewhere and we will figure it out along the way! We managed to be riding by 10:30am

Excited to be once again heading down the road for another summer adventure.( the first one for us both was in 1974 on a CB550 Honda Four) Don't try and do the math it is difficult counting that high!

We plan to stay off the FREEWAYS as much as possible because we want a slower pace and enjoy the country side. Light traffic on the Hwy 3 down to St Stephen NB  where the US border crew felt like it was a work to rule day. Only one gate open and the slowest employee working. When he took a lunch break two officers  replaced him to pick up the pace a bit. Once at the gate and flashed the passports (he was surprised at the length our our planned trip) the 40 minute wait was over. Bikers do not enjoy stop and go traffic anywhere!

Rest break at the Irving's near the beginning of the Airline Maine Hwy 9 then off towards Bangor. Great ride to East Holden where I took a left down a short section of Hwy 46 to Bucksport. A quick Subway lunch while getting out of the sunshine. (Warm day) one stop on Hwy 1 to take a tourist picture of the bridge acoss the Penobscot River. This cable stay design is unique in the USA (one of 3) opening on Dec 30, 2006 after conception to completion schedule of 42 months at a cost of $85 million.

Recognize that biker chick I travel with?

Continued on to Belfast to pick up Hwy 3 to Augusta. A bit of a search to find Hwy 202 to get us to 302 which we took through Fryeburg to arrive in North Conway our destination for the first day out.

We had started seeing many groups of riders later in the day and White Mountain Highway looked like a Harley Convention as we stopped to use WIFI at MacDonalds to find a room for the night.

Sure enough when I checked in the girl on the desk confirmed that it was Biker week here in NH. I have only been to Laconia once and that was before I even owned a bike in June 1973. (Again forget the math)

Time for a walk around before chowing  down and bed time. Hard to hear each other on the sidewalk with all the Harley's trying to out do each other's pipe roar! 636km on a warm summery day put me out quickly once horizontal!😎

September 8-9th down the home stretch

We took our time getting up and about Sept. 8th because the first thing Gayle had to do was get her hair done at noon. While she was at the stylists I worked on the " Blog" and planned our travel route for the next several days. Researching the weather prognosis for the week had me thinking that we should just leave and ride home directly without fulfilling my desire of riding through the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

                          Hi lites once again:)

Once I picked Gayle up in Kanata we rode via March Road to Almonte to visit with Sue and Mike  prior to going out to supper at the Riverside in that great little town. We played catchup on the summer as we hadn't seen them for several months. So good to see the advances made on their condos and that life is good for them. Some visits are just too short.

                                                Sue Evans and Michael Dunn

We returned to our motel after dark for the first time on our journey. Autumn is just around the corner!

We left  the nation's capital during morning rush hour but did OK getting through traffic and street construction to Gatineau and off towards Montreal. Traffic was grid locked heading towards Ottawa but very light heading our way east. I had decided to stay north of Montreal and stayed on highway 40 all the way to Quebec City. We crossed the Pierre Laporte Bridge for the first time ever and boy was it windy! Shades of riding on the Prairies! We rode to Rivière du Loup before calling it quits for the day. Highway 20  on the south side of the St. Lawrence river was definitely blustery and busier traffic wise than what we found on the north side highway 40 earlier in the day. You just knew that the weather was changing with wind like that!

Up early for our last ride of the journey. Continental breakfast load the bike and ride. Took the opportunity to stop once we were inside NB. No room on the highway to park and get a photo with the Welcome to New Brunswick sign. But we did pull into the airport and took these shots to answer Mike Dunn's question from the other night, "Is the Lancaster still there?"

Light Tuesday traffic allowed me to set the bike on "cruise" for most of the TC run and we pulled into our yard by 1pm Atlantic Time. Happy to have stayed ahead of the changing weather (rain) and to be home after 81 days on the road!

                                         You can't see the smile,but it's there.

                          Now......what's next?

Thanks for following us on our first major bike journey. It was good to have you along.

September 2-7th (boy time flies when you are having fun)

Can you tell that we were not the only ones that wanted to get out of the rain.?  All these bikes were at our motel for the night.

         

              

Our plan for today Aug.2,2013 was to ride to Sudbury, but include a side trip up hwy.# 69 to Elliot Lake to visit an old friend from our days  in the Peace River. The weather was definitely more agreeable to bike travel and the road was clean of animals and had a light flow of traffic. It was good to have a face to face (first time in 28 years) with Dorothy Daly who was our Anglican priest at St. Peters Anglican\United Church while we lived in Hudson's Hope, BC.

                

                   Gayle and Rev. Dorothy Daly at home in Elliot Lake

We did a quick ride about town and Gayle found a bike that she thought would  fit her solo riding.

                           A Chinese manufactured electric unit parked at Tim's

Nature call at Tim's then back onto hwy.# 17 to Sudbury and holed up there over night. It feels great not to ride in the rain even though it has turned cooler. Supper at Kelsey's restaurant to warm us up before some shut eye.

The next day's ride down to Elora was windy while on highway 69\400 with a definite increase in traffic. The scenery was more to our liking with rolling farmland, as we left the main drag for the more rural secondary highways of 9, 3, 18.

Found my cousin Sharon's place with no problem (on board GPS) and called her at work after 4pm to announce our arrival in town. Ian, Sharon's husband was still at work for awhile longer,so we snacked and wined until his introduction to both Gayle and I. We had never met Ian who is now 72 and has been married to Sharon since forever. Hard to imagine!

We went out to The Cellar for a wonderful supper and more conversation, after a quick tour of their lovely town. There are so many great looking little towns in this area of Ontario. It would be hard to choose one if we ever considered moving to "Upper Canada." One thing about living in a small town.....you certainly get to know most everyone over the years.

    The Girls [Cousin Sharon (Day) Rice and Gayle.]

    Ian and Sharon Rice. We finally got to meet him!

These people should both be retired but had to be up and about in the morning so we tried not to keep them up too late when we returned home. We were up in time to say goodbye to Ian while Sharon put together a fantastic breakfast before excusing herself and leaving for work before we mounted up for the day.

Off to the most southerly point in mainland Canada today Aug. 4th. Why that is Point Pelee National Park of course. "It forms the southernmost point in mainland Canada (its latitudinal position is the same as the northernmost counties of California) and is part of a bird and butterfly migration corridor over Lake Erie via Point Pelee and the Lake Erie islands. Over 360 bird species have been recorded in the park. The peak time for bird migration is spring, especially May, when tired migrants make first landfall after their journey north across the lake. Bird species include Cooper's Hawk, Painted Bunting, and Yellow Choochity Warbler. Many birdwatchers from North America and abroad visit the park in spring, often staying in the nearby town of Leamington. One attraction, apart from the sheer numbers and variety of bird passing through on migration, is the opportunity to see more northerly breeding species such as Blackpoll Warbler before they move on." (I threw that in here for my friend Jim St.Laurent in Calgary) :)

Rode the bike into the area as far as the park officials would allow me and checked out the visitors centre before mounting up for the ride to London.

We were not aware of the beaches of the park being "nude" but we did see another bird species returning to his SUV while leaving this view point. Rather old and wrinkled with a lack of plumage!

That's Lake Erie out there and very windy on this day.

The next day was set aside for a 20,000km warranty maintenance visit to Wolf BMW.

Ian and Christine Mc Queen run a great shop here in London

I met a customer of theirs who came in to book a rear tire replacement. Blair and I talked about bikes, travelling in Canada and most interestingly renting a BMW in New Zealand and group touring two up with his wife last winter. He was entertaining and engaging for almost an hour. Great fun.

Sticking with our plan (someone's plan) of checking out quilt shops took us next to The Hobby Horse Quilt Shoppe just north of Georgetown. Gayle got to spend time with Gail Spence and staff while I was able to talk farming with Gail's husband Al. Great visit on a bright sunny day. Wonderful location!

Just the lower building was the shop thank goodness or we might have had to stay longer:)

                                   BEFORE

                                                     

                                  DURING            

                                                                                                         

                  AFTER (notice the smile)

                 Oh yes, there was a cat to be seen on the farm Angela and Jessica

Because we were so close, we just had to check out where Nicholas used to work before moving to Vermont. As luck would have it we caught Dino Deligiannis, the President in his office and he went to tell Dan Goodwin (from Fredericton) that we were outside in the parking lot. Another employee, Rob Wardlaw took the opportunity to come out to meet us as well as check out the bike.

                              Good sports from Intlvac. Dino, Dan and Rob

To finish the day's ride to Peterborough I planned a route to circumvent the Friday afternoon traffic around greater Toronto. I now know that there is probably no such route and like I'm finding in much of Ontario the highway signage giving you a heads up before the road changes actually are upon you, is TERRIBLE at best. Many small towns will post a street name and not tell you that is is also a certain highway # you have been navigating on, for over an hour. It is almost as if they want you to get "lost" in their town and have to stay awhile! I didn't get too lost at any time but probably took longer than necessary to arrive at the motel. :)

August 7th saw us waiting till mid-morning for the rain to let off a little. We then followed highway 7 from Peterborough to Carleton Place under heavy overcast skies and no predicted rain, then north to Mississippi Mills (Almonte) on highway #29 to Quilting Quarters. (Not another bike shop!)

                      Do I see more smiles?